Tuesday, 11 September 2012

How to be righteous and please God

In Matthew ch.5 Jesus tells His disciples that blessing will come from suffering, self denial, a desire for righteousness, mercy and peace, and tells them to rejoice when persecuted on account of Him. As a believer I am told to salt the earth and give light to the world so that men might give glory to God for my good works. Jesus goes on to say that unless my righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees I will never enter the kingdom of God. From verse 21 to the end of the chapter I am told that Jesus requires that I not only stop sinning in the flesh but the intent of my mind and my heart must be pure, and that I must do good to those who are doing evil to me. Finally, in the last verse of this chapter, I am told that I must be as perfect as God Himself ...... ...

This is where I give up all hope of trying to get into the kingdom of God by any other means except through grace, and realise that it is futile to think that I can please Him with any righteousness other than the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ, a righteousness attained by the Holy Spirit through the gift of faith.

Wisdom's key

I have a desktop publishing package on my computer that I have been using for some time now, but I have not been using it to its full potential. There are many facilities that I need on this package for the work that I do, and I have not been using them because I did not know they were there.

How did I find out that they were there? I decided to use the tutorials that came with the package. Now I am finding wonderful tools to help me with, and enhance, the products that I enjoy creating and the things that I enjoy writing about both in card and booklet form, and on blogs.

The same principal applies to my spiritual life. Without a teacher I will remain carnal, and without a tutorial I cannot gain the knowledge and wisdom needed to transform me into what the Lord intends me to be. In the book of Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11, God was telling the people through Jeremiah that His plans for them were 'for welfare, and not for evil, to give you a hope and a future.' He goes on to say in verses 12, 13 and 14 'Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you,'

Proverbs chapter 24, verses 13 and 14 reveal that the secret of gaining that hope and future lies in gaining wisdom. They read: 'My son, eat honey for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul, if you find it there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.'

Proverbs chapter 24, verses 3 to 6 says'By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is mightier than a strong man and a man of knowledge than he who has strength, for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counsellors there is victory.'

God's plans for His church, His spiritual Israel, is for welfare, to give us a hope and a future. Without the wisdom of God there is no hope or future. This is why we need to look into the Christian's tutorial which the teacher of all teachers, the Holy Spirit, will enlighten for us, to gain wisdom so that Jeremiah 29, verse 11 might be fulfilled in our lives today.Then this spiritual house will be filled with all precious and pleasant riches, and we shall be equipped for spiritual warfare, having the victory through an abundance of counsellors.Without reading the tutorials on my desk top publishing package I was blindly struggling, the same applies in my Christian walk. There is a hidden power in the Bible that needs to be unlocked and we who are born of the Spirit have been given the key. It is to have our minds renewed in the wisdom of Christ. Then, and only then, are we each able to do the work that we have been called to do in Him, not in our own power, but by believing on Jesus and acting on His tutorial, which is the word of God

Teach me my FatherTeach me my Father to be like Jesusin everything I say and doteach me my Father to love my neighbourand not to abuse the things from YouTeach me to share the gifts You send meof love and joy and peace of mindteach me to see the soul reaching out from eyes that Satan has made blindTeach me to lean on Your love my Fatherchange this heart of doubt and fearteach me to say to every stranger'Come inside ...... there's welcome here'Teach me my Father to be like Jesusand not to care for worldly thingsteach me to tell the poor and the sick'My Lord has healing in His wings'Teach me to tell them of Your loveof how your work is being doneSimply because my wonderful Father .....I believed upon Your SonThen they said to him, 'What must we do, to be doing the works of God?' Jesus answered and said unto them 'This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.' John ch.6 vs.28,29

Hi Tim,thankyou for your kind comment. I think I have always seen, ever since I became Christian, that God speaks to us through our every day experiences, very much after the way of parables I suppose. As far as the poetry is concerned it is purely inspired by knowing the Lord, and being thankful to Him for reaching out to us in a way that only He can. He becomes real to each individual in a way that causes them to remain individual, yet united. Christianity is the one thing that unites people yet allows them to be themselves in a way.

This illustration parallels daily life and our daily walk with the Lord beautifully. As we study and grow in God’s word, our lives become our walk as we in effect become one with the Lord and let me just say sister, this is all too obvious for us, your readers, to see in you though your blessed writings.

Hi Darryl,thankyou for your kind commentit is lovely isn't it how the Lord will speak to us all in a way we understand. I believe that He is in every moment of our lives, speaking to us through everything and we can see it when we become as a child to Him. 'Intelligence' and human wisdom is a block to our minds when it comes to hearing our Lord's voice. How wonderful that He cares for, and loves, us in such a way that a God so majestic should want us not to miss out.God bless you.

Absolutely right, unless we are perfect, and had never committed a sin in our lives, there is no hope of ever entering the Kingdom of God.How glorious to God it is, for sending his Son, to atone for our sins by suffering and facing death on a cross, throwing open the doors of the Kingdom of God to all who believe. Praise the Lord!And a very well constructed poem.An excellent post.By the way, thanks for posting such a good comment to my latest blog.

Amazing post Brenda. I agree with T-Child you tend to be able to take things from your life and relate them to your spiritual walk, it's great. This post is a blessing. Every time I tell lost friends of mine to read the Words of God, they say it's boring, yet they could pick up the latest book by their favorite televangelist or preacher and they could read Twilight and 50 Shades of Gray, which can add nothing to their lives. The Word of God is Living, no other book on the face of the earth can boast the same. This post expresses how essential it is to use our tutorial specifically written for us and our spiritual walk. The Bible :-)

Hi Frank,that's right, unless we are perfect and without sin we would have no hope of entering the kingdom of God. The more I think of the love of God in sending His Son Jesus to rescue us, the more I want those who don't know Him to see just how wonderful He really is.

Hi Sateigdra,I can't imagine living without the Bible, it is not just a book it is a vocabulary. I am still amazed, after thirty years of being a Christian, how I can open the Bible and know immediately that God has known what is in my heart, or heard my prayer to Him, and there lies the instruction, correction, comfort or whatever I am in need of. It is His voice speaking at just the right moment. He is more real than anything else to me. Yes I love that first pic too, it always reminds me that before I knew the Lord I was trapped in a world of sadness, now I feel free.

This is very well presented--especially the part about being entirely dependent upon His grace. By the way, I am curious about what desktop publishing program you have. Would you tell us what it is? I just noticed a few weeks ago that we got Word Publishing in the MS Office 2010 bundle my wife was able to get through her work for a song, but I am yet to try to see what it may have to offer.

Hi Jerry,I use mainly Serif programs, older ones like Page plus8 or X2, and Photoshop for the pics. I haven't used a lot of programs other than Serif, I find it really good, although I am still quite green as far as changing file format etc., but am learning slowly.

I very much enjoyed this post and your lovely poetry.. and try to pray over and over and over "Jesus, i trust in you..." then let go and let God..easier said than done.I am your newest follower..pls follow back if you can..

Hello,nice to meet you. Yes the human nature and mind can be quite strong, but God is stronger and the more we renew our minds in Christ by trying to act on that word spoken to us as individuals, the more we realize what a mighty God we have and how much better His ways are than any other. They always have been. Thankyou for your kind comment. I look forward to reading your blog.

Hi Brenda, I have not visited for a while. Have been busy with back to school stuff for my kids. Happy I'm back on blogville. May God teach me to really be who and what I am supposed to be in him.

One thing bothering my mind is... If God teaches me to ask every stranger to come in side, is it safe? Hospitality worked wonders for Abraham. Yes, does it still apply in this age of technology and crime and all sorts? Now we teach kids not to talk to or open the door to strangers. Is it Ok?

Hi Joy,In answer to your question, the poem is my own personal prayer which I felt inspired to write to ask God to help me to have a love for others, especially where kindness is needed, I remember how kind my own father was to people. There is also a wanting to tell people of the welcome awaiting them in the kingdom of God in that sentence too. I believe each individual can only pray for what they feel to pray for, not what others pray for. Of course it is wise to teach your children not to talk to or open the door to strangers, I totally agree there.

Hi Jephyr,yes, I remember that terrible day. I can see myself, as I was, walking home from my work and being stopped by a person who told me about it being on the television. It's hard to believe how cruel mankind has become, and all through relying on the deceitful carnal mind's justification. I was watching a program last night where it was talking about the 1962 issue with Russia and the USA over the Cuba area, and a Russian submarine that was carrying weapons that, if launched, would have caused possibly the inevitable destruction of mankind. There were three men who had the authority to launch the nuclear weapon, one was very agressive and secured the second man's 'yes' vote. The third was entirely different and said 'no'. President Kennedy made very wise decisions regarding handling the situation, as he knew that both nations had the ability between them to bring an irreversible destruction upon the world if allowed to carry on. The submarine went back to Russia. I thought how God had placed two wise men in a situation in order to prevent a disaster, and yet which was able to show the world exactly the state that it was in, and yet has the world heeded the warning?

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About Me

I'm a Christian, I write poetry, and love to share it, along with testimonies of experiences in my life connected with my Christianity. Life for myself and my husband is good because God is good.
I write two blogs www.lighthousevision.blogspot.co.uk to interact with other Christians,
and
www.fatherithankyouforjesus.blogspot.co.uk
which I have written to share with those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour.